Bertrand, Mathon, Malory, Favreau, Vincent, Degos, Aymeric, Amelot, Alexandre, Le Joncour, Nicolas, Weiss, Benjamin, Rohaut, Loïc, Le Guennec, Anne-Laure, Boch, Alexandre, Carpentier, Franck, Bielle, Karima, Mokhtari, Ahmed, Idbaih, Mehdi, Touat, Alain, Combes, Alexandre, Demoule, Eimad, Shotar, Vincent, Navarro, Mathieu, Raux, Sophie, Demeret, Marc, Pineton De Chambrun, Lucia, Nichelli, CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU), Institut du Cerveau = Paris Brain Institute (ICM), Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sorbonne Université (SU), Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP), Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Université de Rennes (UR), Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Cardiovasculaires, du Métabolisme et de la Nutrition = Research Unit on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases (ICAN), Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Institut de Cardiométabolisme et Nutrition = Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition [CHU Pitié Salpêtrière] (IHU ICAN), Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP], Groupe de recherche cinique Réanimation et soins intensifs du patient en Insuffisance respiratoire aigüe (GRC 30 - RESPIRE), Neurophysiologie Respiratoire Expérimentale et Clinique (UMRS 1158), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Sorbonne Université (SU), Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses (CIMI), and Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Brain biopsy is a useful surgical procedure in the management of patients with suspected neoplastic lesions. Its role in neurologic diseases of unknown etiology remains controversial, especially in ICU patients. This study was undertaken to determine the feasibility, safety, and the diagnostic yield of brain biopsy in critically ill patients with neurologic diseases of unknown etiology. We also aimed to compare these endpoints to those of non-ICU patients who underwent a brain biopsy in the same clinical context.Monocenter, retrospective, observational cohort study.A French tertiary center.All adult patients with neurologic diseases of unknown etiology under mechanical ventilation undergoing in-ICU brain biopsy between January 2008 and October 2020 were compared with a cohort of non-ICU patients.None.Among the 2,207 brain-biopsied patients during the study period, 234 biopsies were performed for neurologic diseases of unknown etiology, including 29 who were mechanically ventilated and 205 who were not ICU patients. Specific histological diagnosis and final diagnosis rates were 62.1% and 75.9%, respectively, leading to therapeutic management modification in 62.1% of cases. Meningitis on prebiopsy cerebrospinal fluid analysis was the sole predictor of obtaining a final diagnosis (2.3 [1.4-3.8]; p = 0.02). ICU patients who experienced therapeutic management modification after the biopsy had longer survival (p = 0.03). The grade 1 to 4 (mild to severe) complication rates were: 24.1%, 3.5%, 0%, and 6.9%, respectively. Biopsy-related mortality was significantly higher in ICU patients compared with non-ICU patients (6.9% vs 0%; p = 0.02). Hematological malignancy was associated with biopsy-related mortality (1.5 [1.01-2.6]; p = 0.04).Brain biopsy in critically ill patients with neurologic disease of unknown etiology is associated with high diagnostic yield, therapeutic modifications and postbiopsy survival advantage. Safety profile seems acceptable in most patients. The benefit/risk ratio of brain biopsy in this population should be carefully weighted.